With the rapid increase in light emitting diode (LED) efficacies for high powered LEDs, the latest technologies have exceeded incandescent and halogen sources and are now starting to compete with fluorescent, mercury vapour, metal halide and sodium lighting. In addition to better energy usage, LEDs also have considerable advantages over traditional light sources such as long life, better durability and improved color generating abilities. The advancement of LED technology by various manufacturers has produced high power LEDs with various recommended drive currents such as 350 mA, 500 mA, 700 mA, 1000 mA, and 1400 mA or higher.
In recent years, controllable power sources for Solid State Lighting (SSL) applications have entered the market with integrated features. In addition, digital controllers within power sources have enabled the development of configurable options to provide a wider flexibility of solutions for Solid State Lighting applications. The ability to dim the light output of LEDs is also important to reduce energy consumption.
However, lighting companies are faced with considerable challenges in adopting SSL technology due to their unfamiliarity and lack of expertise in the driving and dimming requirements for LEDs.
Therefore, there is provided a novel LED Driver/dimmer for solid state lighting applications.